[Indigsol] Upcoming event, call for letters, video and notes from recent events

Mon Sep 27 07:44:18 PDT 2010

Four things today:

- Video online from Cindy Blackstock lecture
- Notes from Cultural Appropriation workshop
- Upcoming event Thurs Oct 7 - RSVP needed today!
- Support the Lubicon Cree

BUT FIRST - REMINDER OF TUESDAY EVENT

Tues 6:30pm
"The Business of Gold in Guatemala"
with Grahame Russell of Rights Action
at the Agora, in the Jock Turcot University Centre at U of Ottawa
http://ipsmo.org/

also, he is speaking Tues at 11:30am-12:30pm
GSA Lounge, 6th floor Unicentre, Carleton University
"Mining and International Accountability"
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104828729580872

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DOCUMENTATION OF RECENT EVENTS:

Cindy Blackstock gave a public lecture on Wed Sept 22nd.
This lecture was titled "Is this our Canada? How racial discrimination in
children's services undermines the potential of this generation of First
Nations children and what you can do to help". You can find out more at
http://fncfcs.ca & http://fnwitness.ca

Here is the 5-part video of her presentation:
Part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UzS9BUOdHQ
part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CZ71KcWxN8
part3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjUFSMik_M
part4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vkeQrfnpTA
part5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HINXUepuBoA

**

Jessica Yee, of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, was in Ottawa last
Monday to give a workshop on Cultural Appropriation. Here are some notes
from the workshop:
http://www.evolver.net/user/fluidity/blog/cultural_appropriation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OCTOBER 7th event: Lecture from Mary May Simon at Carleton University

NOTE: RSVP by end of Sept 27 in order to attend!

Mary May Simon to Host First Annual Katherine Graham Lecture on Aboriginal
Policy at Carleton

(Ottawa) - Carleton University's Faculty of Public Affairs is pleased to
announce that national Inuit Leader Mary May Simon will deliver the first
annual Katherine A.H. Graham Lecture on Aboriginal Policy on Thursday
October 7, 2010.

The lecture, entitled: "The Biggest Social Policy Challenge of Our Time,"
addresses one of the most important issue facing Canadians today: the
growing deficit in Aboriginal education. Mary May Simon discusses the
inherent flaws in education policies and how focusing on the "achievement
gap" suggests that students are simply not doing their part.

The Katherine Graham Lecture will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the Senate
Room, 608 Robertson Hall at Carleton University. The lecture is free, open
to the public and a reception will follow. Guests must register for the
event as seating is limited.

The Graham lectures provide a vehicle for examining a wide range of policy
issues, cases, models and tools related to First Nations, Métis and Inuit
communities across Canada.  To promote further dialogue and analysis, the
lectures will be published in print format and on the university's
website.

Paid parking is available in lot P5, located off University Drive.

RSVP by Sept. 27, 2010 to Lana_Keon at carleton.ca.
Please contact the Faculty of Public Affairs at 613-520-3741 or visit
http://www2.carleton.ca/fpa/ for more details.

-30-

For more information:
Valerie Pereboom
Communications and Systems Coordinator
Faculty of Public Affairs
613-520-2600 x.2995
valerie_pereboom at carleton.ca

Amy Guest
Media Relations
Carleton University
613-520-2600, ext. 8718
amy_guest at carleton.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SUPPORT THE LUBICON CREE

Please circulate through your lists.

> Please participate in the letter writing action ASAP.  Every day INAC is
working to strengthen their strangle hold on the Lubicon people.

Please get your letter out as soon as possible.  Alternatively you can
phone INAC.  There are points below to give you the background.

Letter Writing Action - Write to Indian Affairs Minister* John Duncan. *
Tell him to respect long-standing Lubicon Governance Rules.

*The situation: *

For over a year Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has refused to
work with duly-elected Lubicon Chief and Council.  INAC's excuse has been
to tell the Lubicon people that they failed to run their own June 5, 2009
election correctly, an election that was held under long-standing Lubicon
Governance and Voter Eligibility Rules, their Custom Code.

What is most disturbing about this situation is that, while INAC
repeatedly takes the position that "INAC will not interfere in the
internal governance issues of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation," INAC has
completely taken control of Lubicon affairs.  INAC has done this by
imposing a "transparent" Third Party Manager (someone who is accountable
to INAC *only *and not accountable to the Lubicon people or their
duly-elected leadership).  While Lubicon Chief and Council have repeatedly
offered to* *work *with *the Third Party Manager to work out the financial
problems caused by their former Chief, INAC has made every excuse to gain
more control over Lubicon affairs.

At the exact moment when the Lubicon Chief and Council could be fighting
the vast extent of new in-situ tar sands developments on their lands,
could be investigating the disappearing water sources and mysterious
animals deaths, could be creating jobs for their people and fixing homes,
INAC has taken away their voice.  Please help put a stop to INAC's abuse
of power.

*Support the Lubicon by contacting Indian Affairs: *
Send your letter by email as attachment.

Email addresses for INAC's John Duncan:
minister at ainc-inac.gc.ca
Duncan.J at parl.gc <Duncan.J at parl.gc.ca>

John Duncan
Minister of Indian Affairs
Room 607 Confederation Bldg
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Phone numbers if you want to express your concerns over the phone:
1-819-997-0002 (INAC office)
1-613-992-2503 (on Parliament Hill, his MP office)

If possible, please CC the following:

Jean Crowder, NDP Indian Affairs Critic
jean at jeancrowder.ca

Marc Lemay, Bloc Québécois Indian Affairs Critic
Lemay.M at parl.gc.ca

Todd Russell, Liberal Indian Affairs Critic
Russell.T at parl.gc.ca

*
*

*Tell Minister Duncan to follow the rules! *

Background:

- Long-standing Lubicon Governance and Voter Eligibility Rules, Lubicon
custom code, have been before the Canadian government in writing since
1985.  They have also been discussed with Canadian government officials at
length in Lubicon land negotiations in 1985-86, 1988-89, 1994-95,
1998-2003.

- Previous Lubicon elections were all conducted under these same
traditional Lubicon governance rules.  These elections were documented by
community-approved Chief Electoral Officers and submitted to INAC.  INAC
always accepted the results.  Until now.  Why the change?  What criteria
does INAC have to suddenly say a First Nation's long-standing governance
and voter eligibility rules, their Custom Code, somehow isn't good enough
for INAC?  INAC does not have this power.

**Demand that Minister Duncan immediately end his department's abuse of
power!**

Background:

- Local INAC officials have tried to characterize the situation in Little
Buffalo as a "leadership dispute."  There is no "leadership dispute" in
Little Buffalo.  The facts:

- Lubicon Chief Noskey (a former councillor) and Councillors were
duly-elected on June 5 2009 following long-standing Lubicon Governance and
Voter Eligibility Rules.  The election report, written by duly-appointed
Chief Electoral Officer, the highly respected Clayton Blood, is publicly
available:
http://www.lubicon.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95:june-5th-chief-electoral-report&catid=16:documents-and-archives&Itemid=100014

- Instead of INAC responding to the election report that the band sent
them as is normal, INAC waited to acknowledge the Lubicon Lake Nation for
months, and refused to begin working with Lubicon Chief and Council.

- During this timeframe the former Lubicon Chief (who knew it was
impossible for him to be re-elected under long-standing Lubicon rules)
organized an event at which he asked a few handfulls of close
supporters/family members to declare him "Chief for Life," a position that
does not exist, nor has ever existed, in traditional Lubicon governance
practices (which are publicly available and well known).

*Selection of Lubicon leaders has always been democratic (at the earliest
times done by consensus, in the last 30 years by election with a
Lubicon-determined list of voters); Lubicon society was never controlled
by an oligarchy.

- While the Lubicon community knew the former Chief's claim to unbridled
power was absurd, as were his attempts to create rumours about the current
chief and councillors, INAC took full advantage of the situation.  INAC
began calling the Lubicon situation a "leadership dispute."  INAC then
used this "leadership dispute" as an excuse as to why they could not sign
a new financial agreement with the Lubicon Chief and Council (conveniently
local INAC officials have made up the claim that the Lubicon people can't
decide who their leaders are, even though they know this is not the case).
 With no financial agreement in place between the Lubicon and INAC, which
occurred solely *because INAC* has refused to put one in place, INAC built
themselves a case as to why they had the authority to take over Lubicon
affairs: eg. "we're doing it to restore funding and help the poor Lubicon
people; we're heros!"

- INAC imposed Third Party Management on the community this past winter.

Putting in place a Third Party Manager (TPM) who is accountable to the
community through the duly-elected Chief and Council is one thing, and it
is something the Lubicon have agreed to.  Instead, however, INAC has made
the TPM report and take directions from INAC.  This is an abuse of power.

- First Nation's right to determine how they choose their own leaders is
vital.  INAC is taking that right away from the Lubicon and working to put
their own person in place.  This is an abuse of power.  Add your voice to
the voices of the Lubicon people.  Demand INAC respect long-standing
Lubicon governance and voter eligibility rules.